


greenwood with envy

by comeseetheduck



Category: Next Gen (2018)
Genre: Baseball, F/F, also if you almost die of course youre gonna go to therapy are you kidding me, theyre lesbians harold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 12:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16017557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeseetheduck/pseuds/comeseetheduck
Summary: Greenwood has feelings. She doesn't like it.





	greenwood with envy

She didn't know exactly what she was feeling, exactly. What she did know is that she didn't like it one bit.

After the Incident, she was now on friendly terms with Mai, and although they had made up over her years of bullying and that one time that Mai almost killed her, she still felt that she still kinda owed Mai for saving her life. Like three times.

She at least wanted to be better friends with her, and they had hung out more after the Incident, but not nearly as much as she had hung out with Ani. It's not like she can blame her for it, anyways. Ani is smart, and pretty, and they had the same science class. Plus, they would sit together at lunch, and she had the rest of the soccer team to hang out with.

Still.

Anytime that Ani would play soccer with Mai she couldn't help but notice the way that she would hold Mai's hand while they ran towards the field, or the way that they hugged each other after Mai scored, or the way that Mai nearly tackled Ani the first time that she scored.

It made her feel... something. And she didn't like it.

* * *

Her therapists suggests that she's envious of Ani and Mai's friendship. Greenwood dismisses that idea immedately.

* * *

Walking over to the table where Mai and Ani were sitting at lunch felt like running through molasses. There's no real reason for her to be sweating like this, it was just walking to a table, to talk to Mai. And also Ani. Two people that she had been really mean to in the past. But that was in the past. Everything is fine.

Ani sees her first, and waves her over. Ani was in the middle of excitedly explaining something to Mai when she stopped to say hello. Greenwood sheepishly waves at the very-excited Ani before looking at Mai, who was also smiling at her. She had never seen Mai smile like that. And as the lunch went on, she saw that smile directed again and again at Ani.

Over the next couple of weeks, Greenwood would just watch Mai and Ani talk at lunch. It was kind of amazing to watch Mai's face. The way that her eyes would light up when Ani was talking about something that Mai liked, the way that she would brush her hair when she was thinking, the look that she would give her every time Ani would go on and on about something that she didn't care about. That last one was her favorite. It kind of made her feel like she was swimming. And she kind of liked it.

* * *

Okay, maybe her therapist was right.

* * *

Mai was good at baseball, but on the day that she decided to teach 7723 how to play baseball she had invited Greenwood and Ani. They all started out throwing the ball to each other, but eventually Mai wanted to start doing some batting. With 7723 pitching, Greenwood found herself operating as the catcher while Mai got ready to bat.

Of course Greenwood watched Mai swing. The way the strap on her tank top moved just a little bit when she swung. The way her calves flexed when she followed through. Mai looks at her and gives her a massive grin. She looks away and tries not to sputter as her face heats up. Mai declares that she's going to hit a home run, making crowd noises as she walks up to the plate.

7723 is a perfect pitcher, throwing fastballs right over the plate, and Mai connects on nearly all of them. And nearly all of them fall just a few feet short of the fence. Ani continues to shout encouragement at Mai, but after twenty attempts, Mai starts to get extremely frustrated. Before 7723 throws his next pitch, Greenwood stops him.

"Mai, maybe if you tried this..."

She stands behind Mai and guides her hands a little bit lower on the baseball bat, her feet just a touch wider apart. She's so close to Mai. She can feel how soft the back of her hands are, she can hear her breathe slowly through her nose. She can smell lilacs in her hair and the mint of her gum. She feels like she's boiling and has steam coming off of her skin, but Mai doesn't seem to notice it. She moves a little bit slower than she strictly has to, holds on for a moment longer. Once she's done, she squats back down as the catcher.

Three swings later, Mai hits a beauty. It drops several yards behind the fence, and Mai throws the bat into the air, hooting and hollering. Greenwood stands up and claps as Mai rounds the bases. As Mai rounds third, she points at Greenwood standing at home plate, and starts sprinting towards her. Greenwood pauses, not sure what to do, but Mai runs up to her, making sure to stomp on home plate, and jumps into her arms. Greenwood barely manages to catch her, stumbling backwards before regaining her balance. Every part of her feels like it's on fire.

"Thank you," Mai says, and it feels like Greenwood is floating.

Their faces are so close.

So, so close.

So close that Greenwood has to only lean forward just a few hairs before their lips are touching.

Her lips taste like strawberries.

Mai drops out of her arms. Her face was lit up unlike anything that she had ever seen before. Practically glowing. All of a sudden, Greenwood felt herself getting shy again, as the two of them stood just looking at each other.

"Kiss her again!" Ani yelled from the dugout, and Mai laughed in that way that she loves so much before leaning in and kissing her back.

She loves this feeling.

* * *

She sure would have a lot to talk about to her therapist this week.

**Author's Note:**

> Ani and Mai's ship name is AniMai and that's fucked up


End file.
